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Nintendo 3DS Arrives March 31st in Australia

3DS

8th February 2011, 10:14pm

I'll have my big piece up on the Sydney Nintendo 3DS Launch Event tomorrow, but for now, here's the big news. March 31st release. $349.95.

To be honest, that's pretty good. Given that the US$250 3DS price point is the same as the Wii's original launch price (which here was $400), that $50 decrease is notable. The different status of Nintendo in Australia and the wild economic fluctuations since 2006 definitely have something to do with that, but even so it's a reasonable, if not cheap, price for the product. The big question will be games. Perhaps $79? That's a stab in the dark, but a not unlikely one. We'll have to wait for retailers to start listing as we approach the launch date.

Some may still find it worth the effort to import a system from the US, but given that the 3DS is region locked it's a bit of a long-term commitment that the original DS sidestepped. You can already see how the mainstream media will go nuts over this new product, which when you think back to the 'spot the Nintendo ad' days of the mid noughties, is a hell of a lot of progress. I guess you can thank the two million Nintendo DS owners for bankrolling Nintendo Australia's ad budget.

Stay tuned to Sliced Gaming for our thoughts on the system and its games, and our debrief on the launch party.